More than 400 years ago, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei peered at Jupiter through his telescope, inspecting what he thought were three stars. In looking, he realized they were not stars but, in fact, objects orbiting the gas giant, what are today known as the Galilean moons.

Centuries later, spacefaring nations are about to launch a sophisticated spacecraft, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, to study these alluring celestial bodies. It is fitting that many of the instruments on this spacecraft were built and will be commanded by Italians.